Globally, where’s the best place to start a cloud-computing business? That’s a question BSA asked. Their research evaluated characteristics of different countries that included data privacy, cybersecurity, cybercrime, intellectual property, technology inter-operability and legal harmonisation, free trade and information and communication technology infrastructure.

Which countries came out on top? Japan, Australia and the United States took top place in the rankings as having the most friendly environments for cloud computing. The ranking of the top ten countries is as follows:

Japan

Australia

United States

Germany

Singapore

France

United Kingdom

South Korea

Canada

Italy

Countries ranking at the bottom were: South Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, Thailand and Vietnam.

Robert Holleyman, President and CEO of BSA, said that “We’re seeing patchy progress in the policy landscape for cloud computing,” said “Mismatched privacy and security rules are making it hard for data to flow across borders. Too many countries are chopping off pieces of the cloud for themselves. This undercuts economies of scale that can benefit everyone. To have a cohesive global marketplace, we need more bridges and fewer barriers… In the global economy, companies should be able to do business wherever they find a market — and customers should have access to the best the world has to offer. Everyone’s policies affect the global cloud marketplace. We don’t need identical laws across every country, but they all should promote good data stewardship while enabling business innovation in a fast-moving marketplace.”